This article may include affiliate links. We may earn a small commission if you shop through them.
There’s a photo I have from my early San Francisco years. I look fine in it. What you can’t see is that I hadn’t been to a doctor in three years, I was rushing to work every morning – even earlier than other startups – and I was bleeding so heavily at work that I once had to apologize to my boss for staining an expensive chair.
That’s what we mean in our book when we say you can be as ambitious as you want – but you also need to chase balance like your life depended on it. Because often, it does.
I spent most of my thirties working with startups in the Bay Area, waking up with my laptop, going to sleep with my laptop, skipping workouts, skipping meals, skipping Chile to visit my grandmother in what turned out to be her last years. I was very busy and not very healthy. I didn’t realize how unwell until my body started making it impossible to ignore. I hadn’t even been to a doctor in years! I just didn’t think there was time.
The heavy periods were the first sign. Then the GERD. The fibroids. Then the brain fog that made me feel like I was thinking through wet concrete and I felt an odd sense of inflammation all the time. A doctor eventually told me I had to get on the pill to manage my heavy periods. I rolled my eyes and left. I remember thinking, fuuuuuu…. I don’t have time for thissssss.
I don’t say any of this as a cautionary tale about ambition – because we (particularly if you’re a Latina founder) freaking love working, we love waking up motivated every morning, and getting a good day’s work. WE LOVE STARTING NEW BUSINESS EVERY WEEK! I say it because I know a lot of you are doing the same thing right now (especially if you’re at the age I was when this was happening to us) – our health silently falling apart. Your primary doctor won’t tell you that because generally they don’t do much preventative work because they’re just really busy – it’s only when you get sick that they find solutions.
What finally shifted things for me was my doctor told me I was headed towards pre-diabetes. I was feeling run down all the time, inflamed, bloated, had really bad acid reflux and I was not at the fitness level I wanted to be at – at all. I got winded reading a book!
I became a mom later in life (during COVID ugh), and wanting to be around my little one for a long time forced me to actually look at my health head-on. Because there is no other time that actually puts you face-to-face with your mortality, than when you have a little baby to take care of and keep alive, and eventually help turn into a successful functioning human. I was 41 when she was born, and so I will be close to 60 when she starts college. To compare, when my parents were my age, they had a 25 year old!
I got labs done for the first time in years (at my primary but I also started using Function and a less expensive Lifeline Screening. I started learning from my husband, who had a concierge doctor at the time thanks to his work, and I started doing things that, honestly, I’d dismissed as old-fashioned: walking in the afternoon. Cooking actual food instead of takeout. Getting enough sleep, not drinking a glass of wine every afternoon – and instead getting tea. Working out well and not phoning it in.
These turned out to be things our great-grandmothers did without thinking about them, because where she came from, that’s just how you lived. You cooked, you cleaned, you rested. You walked to the market and talked to your neighbors. You moved your body. You were never just at a computer all day long so that your body kind of forgets how to move. You didn’t optimize yourself into oblivion and call it success. Many call these habits the blue zones – but really it’s a way of life that was prevalent in many parts of the world, and especially Latin America and Southern Europe.
There is no easy fix! You can’t Instagram your way out of a health funk! Anyone who tries to do that is just a con artist (I am seeing more and more health con artists thanks to social media and problematic podcasts and people are falling for it) . For me, the turning point for me was getting honest about the fact that I was not as healthy as I thought. And we all think we are healthier and fitter than we actually are.
I could have told you that I did yoga consistently, but I hadn’t touched a mat in years. I thought I was sporty, but I didn’t have a gym membership anymore. The truth was that I was aging badly and I had no idea. I was just busy busy busy with things other than taking care of myself. Then having a baby made me look at this squarely in the face.
This is why they are finding out that Gen x and millennials are dying earlier than our parents generation. Researchers say there is a turning point where younger generations born after 1970 are experiencing worse overall survival rates and earlier mortality compared to older folks. We are just not taking care of ourselves, we aren’t moving, and we are drinking triple tall venti Starbucks gushers with 140 grams of sugar.
If you’re in a season where you feel like you’re running on empty and that’s somehow become your baseline: it doesn’t have to be. That’s not just how it is after 40 and that’s not just what having kids does to you. That’s your body asking for something different.
It was incorrect for our boomer parents to think that getting sick and weak is part of getting older. It is not. At all. Aging is not a disease. I actually learned that long ago, from a professor at UCLA who was a leading researcher in the field of aging (who is probably dead now!).
The señoras of our family trees were doing it right because it was baked in to how they lived day to day. Their external environment made it easy. The afternoon walk, the tecito, the meal cooked from real food. It was easier to have healthier habits for them because they were in this small little world where there weren’t a lot of things and consumerism hadn’t yet reached their countries. What they used and how they moved is exactly what their bodies needed.
Aging was beautiful, and it should still be beautiful, especially because we have so many things to help us.
I’m still figuring this out. But I’m doing it with a lot more grace than I was five years ago, and my body has noticed. My labs are now all excellent, I am no longer heading towards pre-diabetes, and I feel stronger because I have muscle whereas before I had very little. I no longer get winded when playing with my little one, and I can genuinly feel an improvement in things like pull ups, push ups, and strength! It’s wile! I am aging the best I have ever aged.
This is probably the best I have ever felt physically and the happiest.
Radical Señora Era goes into all of this — the history behind why we stopped taking care of ourselves and the very simple, very free habits that bring you back. Available now.
Here is what worked for me to get on this wellness train – and that worked – and what is working for me right now. I hope it helps just one person.
1. Get your labs done — all of them
Not just cholesterol. I use Function Health for comprehensive labs and Lifeline Screening for imaging — both are far more affordable than a concierge doctor and told me things my annual physical never did. I asked for LDL, ApoB, fasting insulin, inflammation markers, hormone panels, Vitamin D, iron. My doctor wasn’t going to run these unless I asked. So I asked.
2. I got a continuous glucose monitor — even though I wasn’t diabetic yet (but close)
I was heading toward pre-diabetes and had no idea. My family has a history of diabetes but somehow I thought I was fine (someone in my family actually passed from complications from having diabetes). My doctor told me in no uncertain terms that my bloods were trending in a negative way and that I was fine but if it continue I could just change then using lifestyle modification. A CGM showed me in real time how my body responded to food, stress, and sleep. It changed how I eat more than anything else I’ve done. Chocolate and burgers? Awesome. Bagels? It’s like a gigantic crash for my system. I use the Lingo because it’s the cheapest at $49 per sensor. I get two per quarter.
I also read the Gluccose Goddess’ book and I follow her plans sometimes. She gets critiqued for her science not being 100% but it’s worked for me! Some her tips are simple and include: eat veggies before your meal. Have desert after dinner and not before or during the day. Marry your junk food with good things – so like have a crappy snack, but add nuts.
3. I front-load protein at every meal
On days I don’t hit my protein, I feel it the next day — foggy, sluggish, irritable. Cranky! My easiest lunch is a bowl of shredded chicken with chimichurri, beans, whatever’s in the fridge. Ten minutes, keeps me full for hours. Protein first, everything else second. I am eating more now than I ever was before. It’s fascinating.
4. I lift heavy weights and stopped obsessing over cardio
Three to four times a week, 25 minutes minimum, with actual weight. Heavy enough that the last two reps are hard. Muscle mass is the single best investment I’ve made for my metabolism and long-term health. I use the app MyoAdapt and it’s incredible because it’s doctor created and led. Cardio is a supplement now, not the main event. Also — cute workout clothes, good shoes, and gloves that don’t destroy my hands made me actually show up.
5. I scanned my body before something went wrong
Heart scan, carotid artery scan, bone density scan. Some of these were $100 and I found them near my house. I waited too long to start paying attention to my health. These scans catch things early, when there’s still time to do something about it. Try Dexa or Lifeline Screening (much cheaper)
6. I started tracking the stats my doctor never mentioned
ApoB, Lp(a), fasting insulin, homocysteine, ferritin, hs-CRP. These are the numbers that predict heart disease, diabetes, and inflammation years before symptoms show up — and they weren’t on my standard panel. I had to ask for them specifically. You can find them over at Function labs.
7. I do 15 minutes of mobility work a few times a week
Yoga, when I can fit it in around a kindergartner’s schedule. It’s not about flexibility or zen for me — it’s about being able to move well in ten years. A little, consistently, beats a long session I dread and skip.
8. I use the sauna for recovery, not as a wellness strategy
When I’m starting to feel sick or have muscle soreness, I use it. It helps. But it doesn’t replace sleep, food, or workouts. I spent too long thinking recovery tools were the point. They’re extras.
9. I got strict about my protein powder
Almost all plant-based protein powders Consumer Reports tested had elevated lead levels. Two were bad enough CR advised against them entirely. I only use powders that test clean — right now Biochem, and I’m looking at Truvani since it only has like 3 ingredients and it tastes really good. The price on Truvani is real, but so is the lead in the other stuff. I also love the Arrae powders because you can get protein like a soda type drink instead of a milk shake .
10. DRUGS!
I’m a crunchy Latina mom who also love science and medicine. I use MIDI Health for HRT and Metformin through Hers. I resisted longer than I should have. These helped me kickstart everything else – my energy, my metabolism, my ability to actually do the other nine things on this list. I also take vitamins and supplements only where my labs show I’m actually deficient, because I worry about what else is in most of them.